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Friday, June 05, 2009

Palm Beach County Commissioner taken away in handcuffs ... by gimleteye

Once a powerful county commissioner who specialized in pushing through zoning changes and development permits, Mary McCarty was not lead away in handcuffs yesterday. But she is going to be doing plenty of time to think about her crime. Tony Doris, formerly of Miami Daily Business Review, reports from Palm Beach. Doris was a distinguished journalist who reported out the Idiocy of the Homestead Air Force Base fiasco whose true costs have never been reported to Miami-Dade taxpayers. I've joked that a quorum of the recent Palm Beach County Commission could be conducted from federal prison. Today, it is true. (A nod, here, to the commenter who notes that McCarty joins the "rouge gallery" of former public officials trying to make-up to their reputations from a prison cell.)Tearful McCarty gets 3.5 years, begins sentence immediately; may get drug treatment in Texas

By TONY DORIS

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Thursday, June 04, 2009

WEST PALM BEACH — Having gone from power broker to supplicant, former Palm Beach County Commissioner Mary McCarty rose before U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks and, sobbing, begged forgiveness.

"I apologize to this court and to the victims of my conduct," she said. "My carelessness and irresponsible behavior have humbled me."

McCarty's jail mug

The judge's words

Excerpts from the sentencing order by U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks:Ms. McCarty's crime is less blatant and more subtle than that of others who have been before the Court. While sophistication is not necessarily a virtue, her crime has been less premeditated than the out and out thievery practiced by some. She participated in a system not entirely of her own making, which has proven to be a recipe for corruption.

There is not a need to protect the public from future crimes by this defendant. Ms. McCarty is unlikely to regain political power, and if she did, unlikely to repeat this crime.

A sentence must be a strong statement that this behavior is intolerable, and should not be repeated. ... But it should not be greater than necessary to accomplish these purposes.

McCarty today at court

McCarty scandalPB County commissioner is the fifth local political leader in the past three years to head to prison for abusing public office.

McCarty added: "I never thought of myself as a criminal, but I am one."

Not enough, the judge said Thursday, ruling that her actions required that a message be sent to deter others. His message: 31/2 years behind bars, plus a $100,000 fine payable immediately.

Then he had marshals take her into custody on the spot.

The judge stomped on defense intimations that her deeds amounted to ethics trifles beyond the purview of federal court. "Ms. McCarty," he said, "has committed a serious federal crime."

She took off her pearl necklace, bunched it into the hands of her teary mother and disappeared into federal custody.

Her mother, Jeanne Ray, called it a "tragedy." McCarty's brother, lobbyist Brian Ballard, and sister, Julie Ballard-Lebe, also were in the courtroom.

The fallen ex-commissioner became the third in three years to be imprisoned on federal corruption charges, following Tony Masilotti and Warren Newell. More may be on the way: Prosecutors said Newell, in earning a sentence reduction last week, had divulged information not just on McCarty but on others yet to be publicly identified.

"Our work in this area is not yet done," First Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeff Sloman said.

McCarty, 54, served 18 years on the commission and was a Delray Beach commissioner before that. She pleaded guilty in March to taking free resort stays from a company she helped win a contract to build a convention center hotel, and to steering bond awards that profited herself and her underwriter husband, Kevin.

Kevin McCarty began an eight-month term last month for failing to report her crime.

Mary McCarty's sentencing began precisely at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, despite an underground cable failure at 9:02 that shut off courthouse power for nearly an hour.

Outside the courthouse, McCarty's impending fate mixed supporters' anguish and antagonists' outrage with levity about the power outage.

"Does that mean they won't be able to use the electric chair?" a government worker quipped.

"I just don't feel she should be going to prison at all," said Wanda Robinson of Jupiter, a 20-year friend. "It's an ethics problem and definitely not a federal case. It's shocking and it's scary."

But others said McCarty deserved the max, that she had bullied residents to favor developers for 20 years. "It's them versus the people. That's how I see Mary McCarty - she's a 'them,' " said John Earley, a conservative activist who had clashed with her on internal GOP politics.

He and friend John Parsons came to the courthouse to hand out yellow lapel tags with the numeral "5," to urge the five-year maximum spelled out in her plea bargain.

McCarty's attorney, David Bogenschutz, urged the judge to sentence her to no more than a year and a day. Even so, the 31/2-year sentence Middlebrooks meted out represented "a substantial break," Bogenschutz said afterward.

It was 18 months less than the maximum, and 18 months less than what Masilotti and Newell received in their corruption cases. Newell's penalty was cut to three years last week for providing evidence against McCarty.

"Eighteen months means a lot more when you're 54 than when you're 24," Bogenschutz said. The sentence reflected the judge's recognition of McCarty's history of public service, he added.

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Carlton said the sentence recognized the importance of deterring corruption. "It will garner the attention of any public official," he said.

McCarty's $100,000 fine is in addition to the $272,000 in ill-gotten gains she and her husband have forfeited. The fine was far higher than the $25,000 levied against Masilotti. Newell forfeited $135,000 but received no fine.

McCarty also got harsher treatment than her peers when Middlebrooks sent her to jail immediately. Masilotti and Newell each had at least a month before reporting to prison.

"She's prepared for what she can expect, more than any defendant I've ever seen," he said.

He asked that McCarty serve her sentence in Texas, which has a minimum-security federal prison that offers substance-abuse treatment. Bogenschutz would not elaborate on what treatment McCarty may require. The judge made no guarantees.

The judge weighed McCarty's service to the community, said she was unlikely to repeat her crimes and opined that her actions were "less premeditated than the out-and-out thievery" of other officials.

He placed her crimes in the context of a county awash in corruption, citing state grand jury reports - one released May 27 - urging sterner treatment of dishonest officials.

"She participated in a system not entirely of her own making, which has proven to be a recipe for corruption," the judge said. He added: "The pay-to-play culture created a sense of entitlement to gifts and benefits."

But that doesn't minimize what she did, he concluded. And he strongly disagreed with defense arguments that the federal corruption law she violated, prohibiting "honest services fraud," is on shaky legal grounds.

"The honest services law has been on the books for 20 years," he wrote. "It was enacted in recognition of the reality that more sophisticated forms of political corruption rarely involve the delivery of a bag of cash in exchange for an identified vote."

11 comments:

Anonymous
said...

The main problem with McCarty was that she "served" 18 years in the commission. Obviously after holding office for so long, she knew all the ropes very well on how to manipulate the system to her advantage. That's exactly why members of Congress and local commissioners must be term-limited.

Give me a break. Do you steal from your job because you've been there too long and you know when the cash drawer is unattended? I'm so tired of people pointing to the time in office as the reason for a politician's personal failings.

You're either ethical or unethical. I can think of quite a few political figures that spent their entire lives in public office without becoming ethically challenged. They're not all evil.

And this whole notion by McCarty's supporters that stealing from the public was "only" an ethics issue is ridiculous. People who steal lack ethics, but last I checked, that's why it is a crime.

It is not easy making a few thousand a year when everyone you are doing business for is making tens of millions from your decisions. They all treat you like a king or queen, but really you're just their bitch.

Sorry to report to the vultures that Mary McCarty was NOT led away in handcuffs. You know Tony Doris is an ethical reporter and he did NOT report that. Typical of the dirty press, you made that up! You must get off on printing lies about people you don't know. Sounds like a bunch of Mean Girls to me. And hiding behind "anonymous" is just sad.

What does it matter whether Mary McCarty was lead away in handcuffs or not? If she wasn't, she should have been. She's a criminal. The Palm Beach County Commission and other county commissions we can think of have been wrecked by insider dealing and criminality that penalizes citizens and enriches the politically connected. If it was up to me, she would have been lead away in a hundred pairs of handcuffs. Wanda Robinson, don't you think?

Wanda, your complaint is choosing a small detail: Like someone complaing that Jeffrey Dahmer didn't eat ALL his victims so why call him a cannibal? The woman is accused of doing something bad. Cuffs or no cuffs --- it is really not important, she is still disgraced.

FLORIDA'S ROUGE GALLERY EXPANDS TO WELCOME ANOTHER ELECTED OFFICIAL....

NOTE: Former Commissioner McCarty’s vote - with Masilotti and Newell –authorized purchase of a mine pit with public funds as a water “reservoir.”

“She took off her pearl necklace, bunched it into the hands of her tearymother and disappeared into federal custody.”

“The fallen ex-commissioner became the third in three years to be imprisonedon federal corruption charges, following Tony Masilotti and Warren Newell.More may be on the way:”

“Outside the courthouse, McCarty's impending fate mixed supporters' anguishand antagonists' outrage with levity about the power outage."Does that mean they won't be able to use the electric chair?" a governmentworker quipped.” [NOTE: THAT WOULDN’T BE A PROBLEM IF FPL WAS USING SOLAR]

“But others said McCarty deserved the max, that she had bullied residents tofavor developers for 20 years. "It's them versus the people.”

“But Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Carlton said the sentence recognizedthe importance of deterring corruption. "It will garner the attention of anypublic official," he said.McCarty's $100,000 fine is in addition to the $272,000 in ill-gotten gainsshe and her husband have forfeited. The fine was far higher than the $25,000levied against Masilotti. Newell forfeited $135,000 but received no fine.”

“He placed her crimes in the context of a county awash in corruption, citingstate grand jury reports - one released May 27 - urging sterner treatment ofdishonest officials.”_____________________http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/local_news/epaper/2009/06/04/0604mccarty.html

Quotes hall of fame - worth another look:

Jonathon Dunlop of Australia about the Miami Airport:"This is the most disorganized shambles of an airport that exists on this earth.''April 01, 2007 Eye on Miami Comment on Post__________________________________On "Colony Collapse Disorder":Anonymous said...I say lets wait till the last tree is going to be cut down, the last bit of oil used, the last lowland coastal areas flooded before we make any rash decisions that might effect the economy.April 21, 2007 Eye on Miami Comment_________________________________On Bee “Colony Collapse Disorder” being blamed on cell phones:Anonymous said...Hmmm. What are bees doing with cell phones, anyhow?April 20, 2007 Eye on Miami Comment_________________________________On South Florida Water Supply:Ron Littlepage said...Unfortunately, we know who would win when it comes to allowing development to run amok and it's not the wildlife.April 20, 2007 Eye on Miami Comment Post_________________________________Lesley Blackner said:In Florida, the sad reality is that government exists to serve the development machine, not the citizenry. That's why it's proper to say that in Florida we have government of the developer, by the developer and for the developer.April 22, 2007 Eye on Miami Post_________________________________On City of Miami and Miami Dade County giving $1,000,000 each to Jorge Perez’s Related Group (The Group's 2005 revenues were $3.25 billion.):"It makes as much sense as me donating half my paycheck to Warren Buffett.”May 6, 2007 Miami Herald Columnist Ana Menendez_________________________________On the FCAT Test:"'Florida is a serial mis-user of test scores.''Bob Schaeffer, director for Massachusetts-based FairTest.May 25, 2007 Miami Herald_________________________________Clifford Schulman (Greenberg Traurig Lobbyist):"This is the first time in 33 years that any one has accused me of fraud." June 28, 2007 Miami HeraldI say: hmm.__________________________________Max Rameau, Homeless Activist:"I respect Ron Book for his work with the Homeless Trust, but the Liberty City community and others have given broad support to this idea. I don't know that a big-time millionaire lobbyist can tell us what is best for Liberty City and the black community.'' July 28, 2007 Miami Herald__________________________________"After years of mismanagement under a board of political appointees and neighborhood activists, Miami-Dade County administrators have proposed a new way to run the troubled empowerment zone program. The plan: Bring in new political appointees and neighborhood activists."November 6, 2007 Miami Herald: Reporter Scott Hiaasen______________________________________"Saying "Greater Everglades" and "Northern Everglades" is not saying Everglades -- other places are deserving of being protected too, but there is only one Everglades. The main thing is to keep the 'Main Thing' the main thing -- which, lately, has not been the main thing." Bob Mooney - on Listserve "Everglades Commons"________________________________________"Does anyone in their right mind believe that Florida could conduct postal balloting without a major screw-up or scandal? Heavens, no! The whole country is keenly aware that our state is a sump hole of incompetence and corruption."Carl Hiaasen - March 16, 2008 Miami Herald_______________________________________On the Charter Review: "Commissioners want us to vote on their own pet changes, ideas the review team explicitly rejected. And, they're throwing their blatantly self-serving ballot questions at us at the same time. What a slap in the face to the charter review team — and to all of us!" Michael Lewis of Miami Today - April 10, 2008______________________________________On the Miami Dade County Commission:''Unfortunately, this is a commission that would build a cyanide factory next to a playground if you hired the right 12 lobbyists,'' Miami Lakes Councilman Michael Pizzi - May 14, 2008______________________________________"The days where we’re just building sprawl forever, those days are over. I think that Republicans, Democrats, everybody recognizes that that’s not a smart way to build communities." President Barack Obama in Fort Meyers - February 10, 2009______________________________________"So."Dick Cheney's response when told that two thirds of Americans did not support the war in Iraq. - Time Magazine 2008______________________________________"It seems like a bad idea can always find a home in the Florida Legislature." - Howard Simon - Executive Director of Florida ACLU - March 24, 2010

______________________________________Complete this sentence: South Florida really needs a..."Regional plan for controlled growth (before it becomes a concrete jungle similar to Houston), and a completely new set of elected officials that make decisions based on what's good for the future of South Florida instead of what's good for their wallets. - Jack McCabe, Real Estate expert who predicted the housing boom's end. - August 29, 2011 Miami Herald